The origin of the Moon is usually explained by a Mars-sized body striking the Earth, creating a debris ring that eventually collected into a single natural satellite, the Moon, but there are a number of variations on this giant-impact hypothesis, as well as alternative explanations, and research continues into how the Moon came to be formed.[1][2] Other proposed scenarios include captured body, fission, formed together (condensation theory, synestia), planetesimal collisions (formed from asteroid-like bodies), and collision theories.[3]
The standard giant-impact hypothesis suggests that a Mars-sized body, called Theia, impacted the proto-Earth, creating a large debris ring around Earth, which then accreted to form the Moon. This collision also resulted in the 23.5° tilted axis of the Earth, thus causing the seasons.[1][irrelevant citation] The Moon's oxygen isotopic ratios seem to be essentially identical to Earth's.[4] Oxygen isotopic ratios, which may be measured very precisely, yield a unique and distinct signature for each Solar System body.[5] If Theia had been a separate protoplanet, it probably would have had a different oxygen isotopic signature than proto-Earth, as would the ejected mixed material.[6] Also, the Moon's titanium isotope ratio (50Ti/47Ti) appears so close to the Earth's (within 4 parts per million) that little if any of the colliding body's mass could likely have been part of the Moon.[7]
^ abCite error: The named reference nasa1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Staff (September 7, 2014). "Revisiting the Moon". New York Times. Retrieved September 8, 2014.
^Theories of Formation for the Moon
^Wiechert, U.; Halliday, A. N.; Lee, D.-C.; Snyder, G. A.; Taylor, L. A.; Rumble, D. (October 2001). "Oxygen Isotopes and the Moon-Forming Giant Impact". Science. 294 (12): 345–348. Bibcode:2001Sci...294..345W. doi:10.1126/science.1063037. PMID 11598294. S2CID 29835446.
^Scott, Edward R. D. (December 3, 2001). "Oxygen Isotopes Give Clues to the Formation of Planets, Moons, and Asteroids". Planetary Science Research Discoveries Report: 55. Bibcode:2001psrd.reptE..55S. Retrieved 2010-03-19.
^Nield, Ted (September 2009). "Moonwalk" (PDF). Geological Society of London. p. 8. Retrieved 2010-03-01.
^Zhang, Junjun; Nicolas Dauphas; Andrew M. Davis; Ingo Leya; Alexei Fedkin (25 March 2012). "The proto-Earth as a significant source of lunar material". Nature Geoscience. 5 (4): 251–255. Bibcode:2012NatGe...5..251Z. doi:10.1038/ngeo1429.
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